The Cannon Connection
Staff Information & Updates 11/18/13
From The Principal's Pen...
Last week was an exciting week at Cannon! Our guests, both from in AND out of district that visited our campus last week, were very impressed with the work we are doing and they provided lots of positive feedback and compliments. We are excited that the campus that visited from Irving ISD is interested in partnering with us, as they go down the STEM journey at their campus as well! Additionally, representatives from a STEM campus in Arlington ISD, came to observe our PLC's in action on Friday! They shared with me that this experience provided them a wonderful opportunity to go back to their own campus and redefine their own PLC's.
AND....best of all, our first Family STEM Night of the year was a HUGE success!! It was very well attended and it was so exciting to see our scholars so engaged, alongside their families, in hands-on engineering & inquiry-based investigations. Many parents commented to me on how much they enjoy having these opportunities to see not just WHAT their children are learning, but also HOW they are learning. Kudos to ALL staff for a job well done! Your hard work and dedication to our scholars and school vision does not go unnoticed!
I know all of you are looking forward to another great week with scholars, followed by an opportunity to have some time to just relax and enjoy family time during the Thanksgiving holiday! Each of you are such a blessing to our school and scholars - I am so grateful for all of you! Enjoy your holiday break!!
FAILURE: A PROBLEM.....OR AN OPPORTUNITY??
LAST WEEK - A PHOTO REVIEW
Family STEM Night - An Evening of Learning For All
Family STEM Night was a HUGE success!! Many positive comments have been shared by parents, scholars, and staff about how engaging this interactive evening of learning was for everyone. It is so awesome to see how excited our parents are about the work we are doing with STEM at Cannon. Thanks to all of you for your hard work to prepare for this important event! Click here to see a photo gallery of STEM Night!
Spring Creek -A Night of Family Fun!
What a fun-filled family night we had at Spring Creek this week! There was a huge turnout for this family event, with a steady flow of Cannon supporters throughout the evening. Special thanks to all staff who participated through serving, assisting, and/or attending this event. The kids AND their families love seeing their teachers at these events! Spring Creek Night photos can be found here.
National Geographic Explorer Visits Cannon
Andres Ruzos, a National Geographic Explorer visited Cannon this week and did a wonderful presentation for our 4th & 5th grade scholars. Not only did he share details of some pretty amazing adventures he has experienced as an Explorer for Nat. Geo., he sent a huge message to our scholars about the importance of asking questions, being curious and pursuing dreams. Awesome experience for all who attended! Be sure to check out more photos here. A must-see is the photo of Cannon Cubs holding a 20+ ft. anaconda skin!!
Dates to Remember
11/18 Cannon 1:1 Presentation @ School Board - 7:00 pm
11/19 Round Rock ISD tours Cannon
11/19 Mandatory Staff Training - 2:45-3:10 Library
11/19 CEC - 3:15-4:00 Library
11/21 Reverse Evacuation Drill
11/22 PLC Week B - 3rd;4th;1st
11/25-11/29 Thanksgiving Break!
12/3 GMS Band Holiday Concert - 9:30 am
12/3 U.CAN - 3:00
12/4 PTA Exec.cMeeting 5:30
12/5 Grapevine Holiday Parade of Lights 6:00 pm
12/6 Kindergarten Field Trip to Lego Land 11:00-2:00
12/6 PLC Week A -Kinder;5th;2nd
12/7 First Lego League Robotics Team Qualifier
12/10 STEM Leadership meeting 3:00 - library
12/11-12/13 Cannon PTA hosts Santa Shop
12/12 Cannon Choirs Holiday Concert 5:30-7:00 pm
12/13 PLC Week B - 3rd;4th;1st
12/17 Staff Holiday Party - 3:15-4:15 - library
12/18 Building Gingerbread Houses w/ Dads - Kinder -8:30 - cafeteria
12/19 Campus Holiday Singalong - cafeteria 8:30
12/19 Early Release - 11:30
12/19 End of 2nd nine weeks
12/23 - 1/3 Winter Break!
1/6 Teacher Workday
1/7 Students Return
REMINDERS & UPDATES
- CHECK OUT THIS GREAT IDEA! Are you looking for a great way to get information about when paid App's are going to be offered for free or maybe even donated to you? Check out this great idea shared by Irene! She actually wrote to several of her favorite App companies and shared the following message. She has actually had some positive responses so far to her requests! Thanks for a great tip Irene!
Irene's message:
I love, love, love your Felt Board app. I am a kinder teacher and I currently have it installed on my iPad. I use it with my class in whole group situations. My campus is in its first year of a 1:1 iPad initiative meaning all kids have an iPad. Unfortunately, my school is also a Title I school and purchasing apps is not in the budget. With 40 students, the 2.99 price tag is out of reach for me personally as well. My question is... Will the Felt Board app ever go free for a day or even go for a reduced price for a day? I would love to make this app accessible to all of my students as I see many applications in all content areas.
- SUBSTITUTE PLANS & TECHNOLOGY - Please remember that when you are making plans for a substitute, that you leave very specific directions about your expectations regarding student use of technology. If student iPads are going to be utilized during your absence, please remind the subs about the importance of active monitoring, not allowing students to openly search on the internet and/or utilize student email. Additionally, please ensure that you leave specific instructions for subs on how to access Safari Montage, in order to show morning announcements. If a substitute has a technology related question during your absence, they need to have contact information for Trisha and/or Sharon, in case they have questions or need support.
- CELEBRATE TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOLS VIDEO CONTEST- The Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA) is sponsoring a video contest, where schools are asked to create a one minute video that uses the theme: “Celebrate Texas Public Schools. Education. It’s BIGGER Here.” Schools can win $1,000 in prize money in one of the five categories: Elementary, Middle School, High School, Spanish and Education Foundation. If you are interested in participating, please submit your video to Tona by December 18th for review. These entries will be submitted to the district and one entry from each category will be selected and sent to the state contest. We have so many great reasons to celebrate our school, let’s let the entire state know of the good things going on at Cannon and GCISD! Click HERE to find the contest rules.
- NEW TEXT MESSAGE FEATURE FOR PARENTS- All parents with a current cell phone number will receive a text message this week from SchoolMessenger, to let them know that the text message feature is now available. The text will inform parents of what they need to to do opt in, to begin receiving these messages. All staff should have received an email from me, explaining this process.
News From The Department of World Languages
Upcoming Dates for Elementary:
January 14: Details coming soon! This will be a required 1/2 day pull out training for all bilingual and dual language teachers. This will replace the collaboration meeting on January 13.
January 23: ESL Collaboration Session, 3:30-5:00, PDEC
Breakout sessions from the LAST Collaboration Session included:
- Vocabulary Strategies for English Language Learning
- New technology resources were shared and explored
- New Spanish Literacy Curriculum was shared and explored
- LPAC 101 training was provided for ESL teachers
February 3,4: ESL Certification training for those who desire a face to face training session prior to taking the exam. (sign up in Eduphoria; Principal approval is required).
February 20: LPAC Party! All 3-5 teachers new to the LPAC process should come and complete assessment LPAC documentation together with on-site support. (Admin Tech Lab)
For more information, contact jodi.cox@gcisd.net
TWEETS FROM THE WEEK!
Great job tweeting about the great things going on at Cannon! Keep up the good work!
Check out some of the other staff tweets from last week!
Cannon 5th graders learning about the theme of a story and how to infer what the theme could be. @cancubs @tonataylor
The Land of Lollis @cannonelemmusic15 Nov
2nd grade app download party on PLC day :-) @cancubs @Tonataylor @canmaestro pic.twitter.com/R5YGTrF2hN
Deborah Highfill @MrsHighfillArt15 Nov
@cancubs @tonataylor The 2013 GCISD holiday greeting card art contest is due MONDAY! http://www.gcisd-k12.org/Page/30377
Trisha Goins @heartinlife15 Nov
Teachers loving learning about #thinglink and #popboardz #gcisdtech #cancubs pic.twitter.com/nfN3E8HcKp
Mandy Jackson @MrsMandyJackson13 Nov
Life cycle of a pumpkin with #educreation. #cancubs #kindergarten @cancubs http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=530957474&mt=8 … pic.twitter.com/3LDrBMCONF
Irene Boynton @ireneb201112 Nov
Kinders use @doodlebuddy and @bookcreatorapp to write and illustrate expository text. #cancubs #GCISD #layertheapps pic.twitter.com/lUXgD6XkhP
Kamala Anderson @Kaminash15 Nov
Using QR codes for an Addition and Subtraction Scavenger Hunt was a blast! @cancubs @Tonataylor
Sarah ganus @SarahGanus14 Nov
Students teaching parents engineering at STEM night. pic.twitter.com/Pd6LQRLPSF
Cannon Fifth @CannonFifth15 Nov
#Cancubs holding a gigantic anaconda skin!! @cancubs pic.twitter.com/JMwOgGt4Tv
Mrs Greuling @mrsgreuling12 Nov
Let me check my #plan #STEM @STEM4th pic.twitter.com/NCuiD3ocYe
Fantastic presentation at Cannon Elementary today! Always Be Curious! Thanks Andres! @georuzo @cancubs @gcisd pic.twitter.com/PKeblFcKmd
Family STEM Night at Cannon! Awesome evening of engineering experiences! @cancubs @CLO_GCISD @GCISD @robinryan_gcisd pic.twitter.com/Oun7O896bQ
Patrick R. Lollis @canmaestro14 Nov
In 20 hrs elem music teachers connect globally on @edmodo !! @cancubs @DFA_GCISD @Tonataylor pic.twitter.com/5kE7X4gJ9H
We love answering questions to demonstrate what we know using todaysmeet! @Tonataylor #cannoncubs pic.twitter.com/3bZGXldEOn
1st graders in Mrs. Anderson's class demonstrated the many ways to show the number 53. Way to go! @cancubs
Gypsy Mishoe @GypsyMishoe12 Nov
@MeganPettit22 awesome presentation on student blogging in the primary grades. You must post it! #gcisdtech
This Thursday 11/14 from 5:30 to 7pm head to Cannon Elementary for Family STEM Night! Visit your scholar's... http://fb.me/M2GzVdwV
@Cancubs Learning on the turf at UNT! @Tonataylor #sustainability pic.twitter.com/IHVpq6hj6r
You should hear the questions from our @cancubs scholars! So proud of these thoughtful engineers! @Tonataylor pic.twitter.com/Q50rXmX5wR
Cannon STEM Night scholars design drums pic.twitter.com/hVGFixVFVo
Judy Hockenbrough @JHockenbrough16 Nov
The students have learned so much about the first Thanksgiving #cancubs @tonataylor pic.twitter.com/swPOzbZMaQ
Luvina Subia @SubiaLuvina14 Nov
At Family STEM night. What an awesome turn out! #cannoncubs
Deena Crawford @MrsCrawfordSSS15 Nov
Andrés Ruzo from National Geographic talking about geology with our 4th and 5th graders :) #cancubs pic.twitter.com/uwv1tt8phd
Denisa Marshall @denisamarshall22h
Joshua loves to play the guitar with Ms. Cheryl, our Music Therapist. @cancubs @tonataylor pic.twitter.com/WU9YyzkIpT
TO DO LIST
- Set a timer and turn in attendance by 9:45-10:15 daily. We STILL have 4-5 teachers each day that forget to do this on time!
- Rock an awesome lesson with technology during the Round Rock site visit to Cannon!
- Mandatory training for ALL teachers on 11/19 in library from 2:50-3:15
- CEC meeting in library on 11/19 3:15
- Remind parents to participate in the district Parent Survey.
- Completeupdating teacher & student iPads to iOS 7
- Tweet throughout the week to share the great work going on @ Cannon!